1. Field of the Invention
A solar energy hot water generator and collector which is mounted on the sloped roof of an enclosure and employs the rays of the sun to heat water for useful purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the energy crises due to periodic shortages of oil has resulted in considerably greater interest in alternative sources of energy. Among the most promising of these is a solar energy, since the energy source (the rays of the sun) is abundant and free of cost, and further since no costly or scarce raw material is consumed when energy is recovered from the sun, which is an inexhaustable and constant source of energy. Thus, in recent years solar energy has been used to heat homes and for other space heating usages in enclosures. A commercial installation in the California desert generates viable quantities of electricity from sunlight using solar cells. Extremely high temperatures can be generated by concentrating the sun's rays using lenses, and commercial facilities in metallurgy and elsewhere do in fact employ the concentrated rays of the sun to heat and/or fuse materials.
In general, space heating via solar energy relies on installations which are disposed on the roofs of dwellings or other enclosures, and the basic concept employed is to heat a circulating fluid by exposure of the fluid within a transparent passage or channel to the sun's rays, so that the fluid absorbs heat from the rays of the sun on the roof. The heated fluid is then circulated through pipes, radiators or the like within the enclosure, whereby the fluid is cooled and the air within the enclosure is heated. The cooled fluid is then again circulated on the roof of the enclosure. The usual fluid employed is water, however alternative fluids such as Dowtherm, ethylene glycol, methyl alcohol, a Freon, or the like may be used in suitable instances. Sometimes air is the fluid, which is either circulated or simply heated and then discharged within the enclosure.
Among the abundance of prior art relative to solar energy collectors and solar hot water heater systems may be mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,156,419; 4,114,597; 4,111,188; 4,111,185; 4,108,155; 4,098,260; 4,093,024; 4,082,080; 4,029,080 and 3,893,506.